ALMOND 



415 



mined largely by the distance they are to be shipped. With the 

 exception of winter varieties of apples and pears and a few kinds 

 of grapes, it is best to dispose of fruit soon after it is gathered, 

 unless it is kept for family use. 



If for winter use, the fruit should at once be placed in the 

 cellar or fruit house in which it is to be stored, and there kept as 

 near the freezing point as possible. There will be less danger of 

 shriveling if the fruit is placed at once in closed barrels or 

 other tight packages, but if proper ventilation is provided, it 

 may be kept in bins with little loss. Even though no ice is 

 used, it will be possible to maintain a fairly low temperature 

 by opening the windows at night when the outside atmosphere 

 is colder than that inside the building, and closing them during 

 the day as the outer air becomes warmer. 



Fruit should be handled with great care at all times, for if 

 the cells become broken by rough handling, the keeping quali- 

 ties will be greatly injured. The illustrations (Figs. 187-189) 

 show three types of fruit storage houses. 



Apples and winter pears may be packed in sand or leaves in 

 the cellar (in boxes) and thereby be kept from shriveling. 



Almond. — The almond tree is seldom seen in the eastern states, 

 but now and then one will be found in a yard and not bearing. The 

 failure to bear may be due to frost injury or lack of pollination. 



The almond is about as hardy as the peach, but it blooms so early 

 in the spring that it is little grown east of the Pacific slope. It is an 

 interesting ornamental tree, and its early bloom is a merit when the 

 fruit is not desired. The almonds commonly sold by nurserymen in 

 the east are hard-shell varieties, and the nuts are not good enough for 

 commerce. The almond fruit is a drupe, like the peach, but the flesh 

 is thin and hard and the pit is the "almond" of commerce. Culture 

 as for peach. 



The "flowering almonds'' are bushes of different species from the 

 fruit-bearing tree (p. 299). They are usually grafted on plum, and 

 the stock is likely to throw up suckers and cause trouble. 



